Carlos Zambrano's latest blowup

It's happened many times before, but this time the Cubs took action against Carlos Zambrano's recent tirade.

Zambrano had to be separated from teammate and Cubs' first baseman Derrek Lee, as a screaming match roared up. Zambrano walked into the dugout after the first inning against the Chicago White Sox, having given up 4 earned runs in the first inning, and began screaming at the team. Lee, in the first inning, missed a hard ground ball which allowed a run to score. Zambrano began screaming at Lee in the dugout before they had to separated. When Juan Pierre (the hitter) was asked if he thought Lee could have made the play, he responded:

"No, because he's in for the bunt and I hit it right down the line," Pierre said. "Due to the fact he was playing in for the bunt, it limits your range from side to side.

"Derrek Lee is a Gold Glover. If he can't get to the ball, then it was a hit."

Lou Pinella, the Cubs' manager, pulled Zambrano from the game. It was later decided by Cubs' management and GM Jim Hendry that Zambrano would be suspended indefinitely.

"His conduct wasn't acceptable," Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said. "His actions toward his teammates and staff were not acceptable."

"He will not be at the ballpark tomorrow. We'll play with 24. We'll play with 24 before we tolerate that kind of behavior."

If that doesn't speak volume about how much the Cubs dislike Zambrano, than I'm not sure what does.

Hendry was later asked if he had any doubt that Zambrano would return this season: "Certainly wouldn't rule it out" and he later said "the rules of the game usually don't allow long, long-term suspensions."

"It becomes a bit of a tired act," Hendry said. "People think that he hasn't been spoken to by Lou and his staff or the general manager before. Things are sometimes construed as being let go or let slide by -- that's certainly not true. You have every right to say it like that, that it's a recurring situation. And every time it recurs, it is a little bit more disappointing."

Zambrano is in the fourth year of a five-year $91.5 contract, making $18.3 million per season. His actions certainly should not be rewarded with this kind of recurring theme with Zambrano. It's not the first time that the Cubs have had to deal with Zambrano's anger issues. In 2007, he and former teammate, catcher Michael Barret, got into a physical fight in the dugout before having to separated, only to later be continued in the clubhouse and both were fined. Last season, major league baseball suspended Big Z for six game after he lost his temper and flipped out during a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in which he made contact with the umpire. It's become an embarrassment to an organization that invests so much in him.

"It's a serious matter," Piniella said. "There's no need for this, none at all. I'm embarrassed. Carlos should be embarrassed."

"We'll definitely stick together," Lee said. "Sometimes it's not easy. Right now, it's not an easy time. But you stick together, stay positive and fight through."

"He really hasn't been up to the standards that he was before for two seasons," Hendry said. "If you look at his last 50 starts, he probably ranks in the bottom third of the National League of overall performance, and I'm not saying that critically. That's not something that I'm tying in with today, but that's part of the decision that was criticized at the time, like we were taking our ace out of the rotation.

"At that time we did it," Hendry said, "I think it was a 40-start lookback that we did, and it really didn't wind up very well. ... I expect him to win more than nine wins like last year, and certainly, he deserved to be given a large contract. He was one of the best pitchers in the game for four, five years and did a tremendous job."

For the Cubs' and Zambrano's sake, hopefully a suspension away from the team can clear the air in the Cubs' clubhouse. Big Z is only 29, and his career is far from over, so you'd hope that he can turn it around and continue to have a great big league career and earn that contract. It's just too bad that this happened so many times before. Zambrano has been a club house cancer on the Cubs for years, despite being a good pitcher. I think the best thing for the Cubs would be to get Zambrano off their team. A good move by Jim Hendry. You have to pity the Chicago Cubs, not just because they haven't won the World Series in over 100 years, but because of Carlos Zambrano's anger.

You can watch how it unfolded here: